Partly cloudy skies were a blessing this morning. Seeing sunshine turn snow covered trees, mountainsides, and winter chalets into a fantasy land always makes me smile. The amount of rain followed by about three feet of snow was amazing and very difficult to handle. I must give the employees who plow our roads and those that do their best to control avalanches, dig out ski lifts and try to make it possible for the huge crowds that are here during the holidays to enjoy their visit to Lake Tahoe a big “Thank You” for all their efforts. Getting roads, decks, lifts, and mountainsides safe for throngs of people with very short notice after a huge storm ends is a daunting task.
We all know that skiers and boarders were more than anxious and excited to shred deep powder this morning. We all arrived early after dealing with deep snow in our driveways and roadways in order to get a good parking space and rally to stand in line before the lifts opened.
As you know if you were at Alpine this morning, you were not alone. Lifts were slow to open as they needed to be dug out or de-iced. Lines were beyond belief at Treeline Cirque at 9am when it opened. We had little choice if we wanted to get part way up the mountain. The only other lift operating at the time was Meadow which a few people rode just to get some turns under foot. Sometimes it feels better to be skiing, even on a beginner lift, than standing in line.
It did not take long for me to realize my dreams of deep light powder were not going to come true. I looked up at Yellow Trail as we road TLC and saw something I cannot remember ever seeing before. There were a few tracks that had been made earlier, perhaps by employees or patrollers, that were made without turns. They were made straight down the slope as if the skier was unable to commit to a turn. Once I was off the lift and headed to some untracked snow, I understood why the tracks showed no turns. The powder was like mud. I sank into the pack a foot or so and came to a dead stop. Steeper might have been better, but this slope was not an easy task. I headed back to the groomed area and enjoyed the snow that had been prepared prior to opening.
Not many turns were made on Yellow Trail and Ladies Slalom
Once the new pack had been broken up by skiers it became easier to maneuver. We were able to make turns in Expert Shortcut after a few people had muscled their way down before we arrived at the top of the run. I spoke with a few people that had ventured up Summit Chair that opened later in the morning. The report was that it was very windy and cold at the top followed by similar snow conditions (perhaps a bit better, but not much). After waiting in line at TLC and making a couple of runs on Meadow we ended our short ski day. Most of the people I ran into on lift rides or standing in line were in good spirits. I know more lifts opened as the day progressed, and I assume skiing got better with more traffic sliding over the slopes breaking up the untracked mud.
Enjoy your day,
Andy
We approached today with a positive attitude, taking laps on Meadow then the Roo to avoid the huge TLC line. Just given temps yesterday,. plus the high winds, I was pretty sure this would not be a delightful powder day. But we stayed out until 1:30 because we were skiing with our family and coaching little ones.
Two things of note…it was another day where inexplicably most of the mountain opened at Alpine by lunchtime and almost nothing opened at the place next door. The meant that many people chose to come to Alpine instead of the other place. Once the gondola opened…there were quite a few more arriving every minute and making the lines all the longer.
We shall see how the rest of the week transpires…